F1: FIA Has New Evidence in Spy Case

The "Stepneygate" spy saga took on a new twist Wednesday when the FIA announced that it has received fresh evidence in the case. As a result, the appeal of the original decision taken by the World Motor Sport Council back in July has been withdrawn in favor of another WMSC meeting on September 13.

Once again, as had been the case in the July 26 meeting, the Council called for representatives of McLaren to attend. Today's full FIA statement follows:

"Following the receipt of new evidence the World Motor Sport Council has been reconvened for a hearing in Paris on September 13th.

In accordance with its decision of July 26th representatives of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes have been invited to attend the hearing.

The FIA President's referral of the matter to the International Court of Appeal has been withdrawn."

McLaren responded to the announcement with the following statement:

"McLaren Racing has been made aware that new evidence has been presented to the FIA as part of their on-going investigation. As a result we have been informed that the Court of Appeal Hearing scheduled for the 13th September in Paris will now comprise a meeting of the WMSC. McLaren will continue to co-operate fully with the FIA."

Back in July 26, in a meeting attended by McLaren and Ferrari representatives, the WMSC ruled that McLaren had indeed been in possession of confidential Ferrari information - allegedly leaked by former Ferrari chief mechanic Nigel Stepney to then McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan - but that the evidence was insufficient to determine whether the silver team benefited from said possession. Thus, it refrained from penalizing Ron Dennis's outfit in the championship.

The WMSC outlined, however, that "If it is found in the future that the Ferrari information has been used to the detriment of the championship, we reserve the right to invite Vodafone McLaren Mercedes back in front of the WMSC where it will face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship."

Get the inside story of the people, science and history of Formula 1 each month in RACER. Tony Dodgins looks into the complex issues behind the McLaren/Ferrari spy scandal in our October issue, on sale now.